It Follows and Rape Culture
Critical Response as Disavowal
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12098943 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Leslie A Hahner (0000-0002-3944-6689, Baylor University, corresponding author), Scott J Varda (0000-0002-1779-8405, Baylor University) |
| Year | 2017 |
| Volume | 40 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 251-269 |
| Publication date | 2017-07-03 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Women s Studies in Communication (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0749-1409 • E-ISSN: 2152-999X |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/07491409.2017.1346534 |
| OpenAlex | W2742105375 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
| References cited | 28 |
In 2014, the independent horror film It Follows debuted, garnering rave reviews from those who deemed the film subversive. In our view, this subversive potential could be generated from the ways the film explicitly references and counters rape culture. Yet so many critical responses to this film fail to even acknowledge that It Follows portrays or addresses sexual violence. We argue that while the film offers ample opportunity for the audience to grapple with the horrors of sexual violence, critical responses suggest that audiences do not overcome the entrenched violence of rape culture. Taking a novel path, this article first details the elements of the film that attempt to overturn horror film conventions and then analyzes critical responses to It Follows. We contend that critics use a variety of tactics to disavow rape in this film and thereby indicate the limits of filmic subversion
Aesthetics · Art · Media studies · Political science · Politics · Popular culture · Sociology · Subversion · Variety (cybernetics · Comics and Graphic Narratives · Computer Science · Gothic Literature and Media Analysis · Law · Sexual Assault and Victimization Studies · Artificial Intelligence
Red, White & Black
The masculine ideal
Interrupting the Conditions of Sexual Violence
Victim Gender in News Coverage of the Priest Sex Crisis by the Boston Globe
Crystal Mangum as Hypervisible Object and Invisible Subject
Camp Horror and the Gendered Politics of Screen Violence
Was It Rape? The Function of Women's Rape Myth Acceptance and Definitions of Sex in Labeling Their Own Experiences
The Relationship between Rape Myths and Sexual Scripts
Rape myths as neutralizing cognitions
Show Sold Separately
TV Rape
Surveillance and Film
Rape Myths
Stop Blaming the Victim
Foucault, Politics, and Violence
Rape Myths
| Unique citing works | 4 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,57 |
| Citation span | 2019 - 2025 (7) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 4 |